Dragons in Disguise

Chapter 2 - A shiny black eye (Alex)

As Robert screamed and fell to the floor, Alex felt a stab of fierce pride for his little brother. David may best, but there was no doubting his courage. Luke, as expected, lost his temper about three seconds later and charged at David. Alex tackled him to the ground.

The library became a din of noise when everyone started yelling at once. Alex managed to land one good punch on Luke's nose before Luke repeatedly punched his right eye. Suddenly, the weight was lifted off of Alex as Joy, Mark and Andy dragged Luke out the door. James and Faith followed, carrying Robert, who was still whimpering. Alex's cousins came back in the library and barred the door. Alex could feel his eye swelling up as it throbbed in time with his pulse. Ann helped him sit up and sent David to get a wet cloth.

"That was really brave Alex," she said as he tried to take deep breaths. "He would have killed David, he's only nine. Luke's sixteen, he's way bigger. I had to do something." Ann sighed, "David's only nine, but you're only ten Alex, he could have killed you too." David came back with a wet cloth. By this time, Alex's eye had almost swollen shut and was quickly turning a dark purple colour. Mark gave Ann a bandage and helped her tie the cloth to Alex's head. Once the bandage was secure, Alex asked, "Where are the girls and Andy?"

"Gone home to get food," was Mark's reply, "they're bringing some back for us." Alex groaned, the pain had really set in, and it felt like someone was shoving a hot fire poker in his eye. "Can we avoid telling Mum and Dad for as long as possible? They'll think we're irresponsible." "We reckon you've got 'til the end of the day," Grace said, reentering the library. "Captain Dipstick's dad was bangin' on your door when we left." She tossed Alex and bread roll. "Probably complaining about his precious son having a high-pitched voice now." She looked over at David, "Nice kick by the way."

Alex sighed, "We need a new place to do this stuff, they're just gonna' keep coming back." All the kids thought for a long time before David jumped up excitedly. "Let's build a treehouse!" Out of all of them, David was the most critical thinker, he thought out every possible solution to find the best one, so everyone else knew he had thought this through. A wild smile grew on Joy's face as she contemplated this idea. Joy, it seemed, existed purely for adventure and challenges, so a treehouse was something she could get on board with wholeheartedly.

"Before Joy goes nuts with excitement," Andy interjected. Joy shot him a wounded look. "We need to work out how best to do this. Where are we getting wood and tools from?" David spoke up, "I thought we could use Dad's tools and the stuff from the woodshed, there's all sorts of planks and stuff in there." Andy nodded, "Okay, and who gets to know about this treehouse?" Alex chipped in, "I think no one, our parents can know, but it's special place so they don't get to know where it is." Everyone agreed to this plan, and they all spent the rest of the day making a building plan. All except for Alex that is, who, it turned out, had a massive concussion, and was forced to lay there, not allowed to take the nap that he wanted.